Checking Out AetherCon: The Online Tabletop Gaming Convention

I love tabletop gaming. I started playing D&D when I was in college and quickly moved to other systems from there. I’ve even played in several Live Action Roleplaying Games (LARP). But because my husband works 2nd shift and we have a preschooler, I don’t have a lot of opportunities to be able to get out and game. When I found out about AetherCon I was really excited because it is a gaming convention that takes place completely online, which means easy access regardless of time constraints. The first AetherCon took place last month and it was quite an interesting experience.

I had signed up for several games that worked around my schedule. I got online on Friday night, about a half hour before my game was supposed to start. I knew that the games were being hosted on Roll20, which is a browser-based virtual table for table top gaming. It was a little confusing at first because on the AetherCon website there were graphics that had table numbers. I had been given a table number when I signed up for each game, but when I clicked on the table I needed it just took me the Roll 20 main page. Eventually, I found myself in the Ox and the Mule, which was a chat room, where I learned that the table link would be sent to me from the game master (GM). So I just hung out in the Ox and the Mule until my game started.

The GM for the game I was signed up for was late, but the game was a lot of fun once it got started. The games were all run through Roll20 which gave the GM the ability to put up different game maps. Each player had control over their characters, allowing us to move during combat. The game was run through the chat feature, though the GM could have opted to use web cams. There is even a dice roller feature so everyone can see what each roll is. The game I played on Friday was a Star Wars D6 game. The story had zombie-like monsters and our GM put blood streaks on the game maps which added to the story. My character ended up being a double agent who sold out the other characters to the Empire, but they were saved at the last minute at the end of the game.

Saturday went a lot smoother because I knew what to expect. I had signed up for a Serenity game which started on time. I enjoyed the Star Wars game more than the Serenity game, mostly because there wasn’t a whole lot of combat in the Serenity game. Our party in the Serenity game was split up for most of the time, so there was long periods where my character had nothing to do. It was pretty fun though and I always like being able to play in the Firefly universe.

I opted not to play any games on Sunday since I had stayed up very late on Friday and it made me feel pretty tired all weekend. I did get a chance to check out a panel briefly that was taking place on a Google+ hangout. It was a great way to use that technology since it gave the panelist the ability to interact with the attendees. There were also some panels being broadcast on YouTube. The links I checked out in the dealer’s room mostly just went to each dealer’s webpage, though some of the dealers were running short games. They would come into the Ox and the Mule chat room to find players.

AetherCon was a very interesting experience. I really enjoyed being able to game from the comfort of my own home, though I do wish that the instructions on how to get into the games had been clearer. But I would recommend that any gamer check out AetherCon and I plan on attending again next year.

Chaos Mandy lives in the mountains of NC with her daughter and husband. You can find her on Twitter (@ChaosMandy) and at her blog, http://browncoatmom.blogspot.com/.